Category Archives: Philosophy & Theology

As for creation taking place through the Divine Command, “Be”, we would like to add a note, following the example of Maulana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanavi in his “Bayan al-Qur’an”, for the benefit of those who happen to be interested in Western philosophy, or in Christian theology, or, worst of all, in the writings of the Orientalists and their translations of Sufi texts.

Let us begin by saying that it is a mystery — and we are using the word “mystery”, not in the debased and the modern sense, but in the original meaning of the term which implies that certain realities are altogether beyond the reach of human understanding, and that certain other realities cannot and must not, even when partially or wholly understood, be given out to those who have no aptitude for receiving them, and that with regard to them it is advisable “to keep one’s lips closed.” In these matters, when and what one chooses to reveal is ultimately not the question of liberalism or democratism or egalitarianism, but that of “spiritual etiquette.” Having repeated the warning given by Maulana Thanavi himself, we shall do no more than explaining what “Bayan al-Qur’an” says on the subject.

Regarding this particular mystery, there is a difference of approach between the two groups of the Mutakallimin (the masters of al-‘Ilm al-Kalam or dialectical theology). According to the Asha’ri group, “Be, and it comes to be” (Kun fa Yakoon) is a metaphorical or allegorical expression. That is to say, the phrase does not signify that Allah actually addressed an existent and commanded it “to be”, but it is an allegorical illustration of His omnipotence, suggesting that there is no interval between an act of will on His part and its realization. The commentator al-Baydawi has adopted this view. But, according to the Maturidi group, the phrase literally means what it says. This approach to the subject, however, produces a difficult problem. A command is given only to an existent. If a thing does not exist at all, how can Allah address it? On the other hand, if a thing does already exist, it is superfluous to command it “to be.” The problem can easily be resolved if we keep two considerations in mind. Firstly, this command does not belong to the order of Tashri’ (legislation) which requires the addressee to exist in actual) fact and to possess understanding; it belongs to the order of Takween: (creation) which is concerned with giving existence to non-existents.

This explanation, in its turn, brings us into the thick of a controversy that has muddled a great deal of Western philosophy and theology. We refer to the question of “creation arising out of nothingness” (Ex Nihilo), and the second of our two considerations will clarify it. It is usual enough to place “existence” (Wujud) in opposition to “nothingness or non-existence” (Adam). But it has also been said that non-existence does not exist. For, Allah is omniscient, and Divine Knowledge comprehends everything that has been, or is, or will be, so that what does not yet exist according to our reckoning, does already exist in Divine Knowledge. To use a different expression, everything past, present or future has its “pure” and “subtle” counterpart in Divine Knowledge. If Western terminology should be more easily comprehensible to some of our readers, we can call these Prototypes, Numbers, or Essences, or Ideas or Archetypes, but each time we will have to give a more refined and a higher signification to these terms than Pythagoras or Plato ever did. The Sufis, however, call them “Al-A’yan al-Thabitah.” With the help of this explanation we can see that when Allah wishes to create a thing, He commands its Essence, which already exists in His Knowledge, “to be”, and it “comes to be” — that is to say, comes to be actualised in the world. Thus, “creation” does not arise out of “nothingness.” Before a thing comes to exist as an “actuality” in the world, it already exists as a “potentiality” in Divine Knowledge. It is this “potentiality” to which the Divine Command “Be” is addressed. Hence, it is equally true to say that Essences do not exist, and to say that Essences do exist. The first statement pertains to the knowledge of the creatures, and the second to the Divine Knowledge.

At the end, we shall again insist that no good can come out of unnecessarily meddling with such delicate questions, specially if the purpose is no more than to seek a new sensation.

Ibn Sina whilst conveying the impression that he is a man believing in the Islamic Belief of Jannat and Jahannam in a manner accepted and believed by the general body of Muslims, argued the superiority of the philosopher’s conception of heaven and hell. Whilst admitting the validity of physical pleasure and pain of the Life Hereafter, he lays greater stress on the abstract theory of heaven and hell – the conception of the Greek philosophers that Jannat and Jahannam are mere spiritual states or ‘experiences’.

According to this theory of kufr expounded by Avicenna, the souls of men at the time of death could be classified into four categories.

1. Those souls who have become aware while still in the material body, of that spiritual perfection which is the object of its love, but have not attained it, though still yearning after it. This soul then is affected by pain at the loss of its cherished object. This then is the misery and the torment far exceeding the bodily pain and physical anguish of burning and freezing.

2. If, however, the intellectual faculty has achieved a high degree of perfection in the soul, then the latter is able to realize that full spiritual perfection, which lies within the purview of its power. But the pleasure enjoyed by this soul at that moment is not the sensual kind. This then, according to Avicenna, is the destiny of the soul, which has become conscious in the physical body of the nature of intellectual perfection.

3. The Foolish Souls which have not acquired a yearning for perfection, yet leave the physical body without having acquired any vicious or evil bodily disposition. These ‘Foolish Souls’ pass to the wide Mercy of God and attain a kind of ease.

4. If, however, these souls have acquired some evil disposition, and have no other condition but this vicious propensity, then they (the souls) will continue to yearn for the physical body, which is regarded by them (the vicious souls) as an absolute necessity. The souls in this category are acutely tormented by the loss of the physical body and its requirements without being able to attain the object of their desire (which is subsistence in the physical body).

Avicenna interprets the Islamic concept of Jahannam and Jannat propounded by the Ambiyaa as a possibility. In other words he holds the view that the Shari’ah view of Jannat and Jahannam (i.e. the material existence of these two abodes) may also be true to certain extent regarding physical pleasure and pain. However, while conceding this possibility he interprets away the Islamic Jannat and Jahannam as ‘states’ (not real physical places) of physical pleasure and pain engineered by the imagination of man, which in turn is effected by some celestial body. Thus he says that pure souls whilst still in the physical body having fixed their gaze firmly on such beliefs (physical Paradise and Hell), after leaving the body may actually experience those ‘states’ of physical pain and pleasure. This is so, he argues, since these souls (i.e. the Ambiyaa and the general body of Muslims) lack the force to draw supreme spiritual happiness. The baser souls (those who subscribe to the Islamic Doctrines of Reality) experience such low and baser sorts of celestial happiness while the ‘blessed souls’ (of the Greek philosophers and those ‘Muslims’ philosophers who subscribe to these theories of kufr), being perfect, are united to the ESSENCE of Allah. This is Avicenna’s theory Nauzubillah min thaalik.

In his treatise, ‘Ar-Risaalatul Azhaawiyah fi amril Ma’aad.’ Avicenna argues that it would have been an exercise in futility if the Ambiyaa preached the doctrine of a spiritual resurrection to the masses since they are able to conceive only of physical pleasure and pain. He opposes the Islamic Doctrine of the physical resurrection of the body and soul. After death it is only the soul which will experience either everlasting pain or everlasting pleasure. The sum total of this Neo-Platonic doctrine of the Hereafter is that happiness in the world to come, when the soul has been stripped of the physical body and of physical impressions, is the intellectual contemplation of the Essence of God, and misery in the Hereafter is the opposite of that.

The doctrine of Avicenna is essentially a theory of disbelief in the Truth preached by all the Ambiyaa (Alayhimussalaam). Islam rejects the theory as baseless and false. There is no sanction in the Qur’an and Ahadith for this abstract theory which is nothing but a figment of the imagination of men who suffered from oblique knowledge, men who have been misled by shaitaan, men who laboured under the satanic notion that the Deen was revealed for the ignorant masses, they themselves by virtue of their ‘special intelligence’ being exempted from the ambit of the Shari’ah.

Imaam Al-Ghazali’s Refutation Of Avicenna’s Conception Of Kufr

Imaam Al-Ghazali (Rahmatullah alay) categorically refutes the view propounded by Ibn Sina as being in direct conflict with the Beliefs of Islam. He rejects the philosopher’s denial of the physical resurrection of the body and the soul; their denial of the existence of a physical Paradise and Hell, as well as their assertion that the Islamic description of these entities are mere parables coined for the common people, designed to actually connote a spiritual reward and retribution. Imaam Ghazaali (Rahmatullah alayh) takes his stand on the basis of Wahi (revelation) and rejects Avicenna’s reliance on reason. He asks:

“Why should the two sorts of happiness and misery not be combined the spiritual and the bodily?”

In answer to the philosopher’s view that the description of the Life Hereafter occuring in the Holy Qur’an is to be taken as parables for the rank and file of mankind, in the same way as the anthropomorphic passages relating to Allah , Imaam Ghazaali (Rahmatullah alayh) claims that this argument is fallacious. It fails for the elementary reason that the parallel drawn is not a true parallel. In accordance with Arab usage of the metaphor, the anthropomorphic passages in the Holy Qur’an can be interpreted metaphorically and esoterically whereas the descriptions of Paradise and Hell transcend the limit of legitimate allegorisation. To regard them (Paradise and Hell) as mere symbols is to suggest that Rasoolullah (Sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) and all the Ambiyaa (alayhimussalaam) deliberately falsified the Truth for the benefit of mankind. The lofty office of Nubuwwat (Prophethood) is far too sacred to resort to such falsification of the Truth. The clinching proof in this matter is the irrefutable fact that Allah Azza wa Jal is Almighty and All-Powerful, hence it lies clearly within His Power to effect a physical resurrection wherein there will be the reunification of the body and the soul to receive retribution pleasure and pain in physical abodes.

Rasoolullah (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam), the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu anhum) and the entire body of the Ahle Sunna wal Jamma’ throughout the history of Islam have held the firm belief that Jannat and Jahannam are physical abodes which have alread been created. It is therefore, a belief of kufr to entertain the Neo-Platonic theory of Avicenna. Even today some modernist Muslims operating from a variety of platforms universities, the media, discussion groups, etc. are disseminating this belief of kufr among the Muslim youth. Yet, these so-called intelligentsia lack the courage to declare their beliefs. Since the majority of these modernist kufr propounders are men deficient in faith, morals and good actions, they operate under cover of dishonesty and very cunningly attempt to ensnare unwary Muslims especially among the youth into their beliefs of eternal perdition. Muslim students who study under such ‘professors’ have to be doubly on their guard and not permit any contamination of their Imaan by acceptance of theories of kufr cunningly expounded by their lecturers.

Those who propagate theories of kufr among Muslims must know that Allah will most certainly expose them. They will be disgraced here on earth in the community of Muslims as well as in the Aakhirah.

The very essence of time as divinely taught in Sūrah al-Kahf of the Qur’ān, and as interpreted in this essay, is that it is complex and multi-dimensional. There is a multi-dimensional movement of time as it passes through the ages. Only the faithful and righteous are endowed with Nur (i.e.,light) which gives them the capacity to penetrate the reality of time. In a very famous Sūrah of the Qur’ān (i.e., al-Asr) named after time, Allah Most Wise warns that all except the believers would be at sea about this subject. They would be in a state of loss because of their incapacity to fathom the subject of time and thus to swim gracefully with the river of time as it flows to a destination which would witness the final triumph of Truth over falsehood (See Qur’ān, al-‘Asr, 103:13).

The youths in Sūrah al-Kahf thought that their 300 year long stay in the cave lasted just a day or part of a day because every spiritual experience and contact with the eternal transports us to a world in which we lose track of time (i.e., the ‘here and now’ or the ‘moment’). Whoever breaks the barrier that imprisons us in the prison of the ‘here’ and ‘now’, can experience timelessness. Only true love for Allah Most High and sincere devotion to the religion of truth can break the barrier of time.

This article argues that none can understand time, unless he first liberates the mind from the prison of the ‘here and now’ and penetrates the different worlds of time.

All, save those who have faith in Allah Most High, remain imprisoned in the consciousness of only one dimension of time. When those who are devoid of faith are raised on the Last Day, veils will be removed from their eyes so they will see with a sharpness of vision hitherto not possible. That new sharpness of vision, inturn, would reveal to them something of the reality of time.

The Qur’ān has described a people who would one day be forced out of that prison of time to see the real world. Even though they may have lived for scores of years in this life, yet after their resurrection into a new world (which would be ghair al-ardh, i.e., different from the present order of creation; see Qur’ān, Ibrāhim, 14:48), they would themselves be conscious of the new dimension of time into which they have been reborn. They will then declare that the scores of years in their previous life seem like “a day or part of a day”:

(It will be said) “You were heedless of this (Day of Judgement), now have We removed thy veil, and sharp is thy sight this Day! (And one of the first things that they now see with their sharp sight would be the reality of ‘time’.)” [Qur’ān, Qāf, 50:22]

He will ask (those who are doomed): “What number of years did you stay on earth?” They will answer: “We have spent there a day or part of a day: but ask those who (are able to) count time. ”He will say: “Ye stayed not but a little if ye had only known!” [Qur’ān, al-Muminūn, 23:112-114]

On the Day that the Hour (of reckoning) will be established the transgressors will swear that they tarried not but an hour: thus were they used to being deluded! But those enbued with knowledge and faith will say: “Indeed ye did tarry within Allah’s Decree to the Day of Resurrection and this is the Day of Resurrection: but ye were not aware!” [Qur’ān, al-Room, 30:55-56]

These verses of the Qur’ān reveal a relationship between ‘faith’ and time such that those who possess faith would penetrate the reality of time. The depth of penetration of that reality would be a measure of ‘faith’.

Beyond ‘literal time’

Infact, space and time are both multi-dimensional. And heaven and hell both exist as real localities, and not just as states, in dimensions of space and time other than the one in which we now live. In this important chapter we attempt to explain time in a manner that would hopefully encourage the skeptics to revisit their views on the subject.

Allah Most High has declared that He created the entire earth in two days, and both the heavens and the earth in six days. These could not be ‘days’ as literally understood by us since such ‘days’ came into being only after the creation of both the heavens and the earth:

“Say: Is it that you deny Him Who created the earth in two Days? And do you join equals with Him? He is the Lord of (all) the Worlds.” [Qur’ān, Fussilāt, 41:9]

“Verily your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six Days and is firmly established on the Throne (of authority) regulating and governing all things. No intercessor (can plead with Him) except after His leave (hath been obtained). This is Allah your Lord; You should serve Him. Will you not celebrate His praises?” [Qur’ān, Yūnus, 10:3]

That there is more to ‘time’ than that which is literally understood is also clear from the following statement of the blessed Prophet (sallalahu ‘alaihi wasallam):

“Narrated Abu Dhar: I asked, O Allah’s Messenger! Which Masjid was first built on the surface of the earth? He replied, al-Masjid al- Harām (in Makkah). I (then) asked, which was built next? He replied, The Masjid of al-Aqsā (in Jerusalem). I (then) asked, what was the period of time which elapsed between the construction of the two? He said, Forty years. He added, Wherever (you maybe, and) the prayer time becomes due, perform the prayer there, for the best thing is to do so (i.e.to offer the prayers on time).” [Sahīh Bukhāri]

If we understand ‘time’ (forty years) in this Hadīth literally then the Hadīth would be manifestly false. It requires just a little reflection for one to understand that the blessed Messenger of Allah (sallalahu ‘alaihi wasallam) was not referring in this Hadīth to a ‘year’ in the sense of twelve lunar months. When he spoke in this Hadīth of that period of ‘forty’ years, and when he referred in the Hadīth concerning Dajjāl, to a ‘day’ like a ‘year’, he was not referring to a ‘year’ as we know a ‘year’.

Well then, we ask, what kind of a ‘year’ was he referring to when he described a period of time that history has recorded as more than a thousand years long, to be just ‘forty’ years in duration? It is impossible for the statement concerning the 40 day lifespan of Dajjāl on earth (or the forty years which elapsed between the building of the two Masājid) to be understood if we limit ourselves to our human notion of ‘time’. Such is derived from our sense perception of ‘night’ and of ‘day’ and of the movement of the sun and the moon.

Those bound to the western epistemology cannot interpret it, though quantum physics might shed some light on the matter. Nor can the Ahadīth concerning Dajjāl etc., be understood by those who are imprisoned in the literal interpretation of that which ought to be symbolically interpreted. Infact, it is only the Sufi epistemology that can unlock the subject of Dajjāl!

We can understand literally ‘a day ’ (youm) which would be like our day (youm)’. Such a ‘day’ (youm) would comprise a ‘night’ (lail) and the following ‘day’ (nahār), in other words from ‘sunset’ to ‘sunset’. Dajjāl would be in our dimension of time, in ‘days like our days’, when he would be at the end of his life on earth. That is quite clear! Whoever is in our dimension of time must, it would appear, also be in our dimension of space. This is what the historical record indicates. We have no evidence in history of any one being in our dimension of time but not in our dimension of space. Because of Dajjāl being in our dimension of time, as well as space, at the end of his life on earth, it would be possible for us to see him in Jerusalem.

The question which arises is: where on earth would Dajjāl be during the period of a ‘day like a year’, and then a ‘day like a month’ and finally, a ‘day like a week’? The second question is how long would ‘a day like a year’ last–then ‘a day like a month’–then, ‘a day like a week’? This important article attempts to respond to those questions.

Al Ghaib – The Unseen Transcendental World

Religion has always affirmed the existence of unseen transcendental worlds which exist beyond (normal) observation and, hence, scientific enquiry, in dimensions of space and time other than our own (al-Ghaib), and has always required of believers that they believe in these unseen worlds.

When Dajjāl is in a ‘day’ other than ‘our day’ it would not be possible for us to see him (even though he would be on earth) since he would be in a different dimension of existence in that unseen world (al-Ghaib). This is precisely the case with Angels and Jinn who are on earth and yet cannot be seen by human beings. The Qur’ān has declared that there are two angels (on the shoulders of) each human being:

“But verily over you (are appointed angels) to protect you, kind and honourable; writing down (your deeds): they know (and understand) all that ye do.” [Qur’ān, al-Infitār, 82:10-12]

It has further informed us that there is an evil Jinn (i.e., a Satan) who is attached to every such human being who turns away from the Dhikr (remembrance) of his Lord God:

“If anyone withdraws himself from remembrance of (Allah) Most Gracious, We appoint for him a Satan (i.e., a disbelieving Jinn) to be an intimate companion to him.” [Qur’ān, al-Zukhruf, 43:36]

Even though we cannot see those Angels and Jinn who are around us, yet every believer believes in their existence here on earth! Here is evidence of our belief in dimensions of existence, and, hence, of worlds of space and time other than our own, existing alongside our own world of space and time here on earth.

Not only do we believe in such dimensions which transcend our normal experience, but we also have incontrovertible evidence that an Angel can enter into our dimension and so appear in our world of space and time that we can see him with our eyes. This was demonstrated on several occasions by the Angel Gabriel (‘alaihissalām). Here is one such occasion:

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar ibn al Khattāb: My father, Umar ibn al Khattāb, told me: One day we were sitting in the Masjid when there appeared before us a man dressed in pure white clothes, his hair extraordinarily black. There were no signs of travel on him. None amongst us recognized him. He eventually sat with the Apostle (peace be upon him). He knelt before him, placed his palms on his thighs, and (proceeded to ask five questions)…. (The narrator of the Hadīth, Umar ibn al Khattāb) said: Then he (the inquirer) went on his way but I stayed with him (the Holy Prophet) for along while. He then asked me: Umar, do you know who this inquirer was? I replied: Allah and His Apostle know best. He (the Holy Prophet) remarked: He was Gabriel (the Angel). He came to you in order to instruct you in matters of religion. [Sahīh Muslim]

This event qualifies as, perhaps, the most amazing occasion in history in which an angel assumed human form while entering into the dimension of space and time in which human beings exist, hence becoming visible and tangible to them.

A Jinn can also assume human form and enter into the human world of space and time. The most famous incident of such was the appearance of Iblīs (i.e.,Satan) in the person of an old Arab man, at the gathering assembled by the Quraish to formulate policy which would solve the problem caused by Muhammad (sallalahu ‘alaihi wasallam):

“Satan (i.e.,Iblīs) himself greeted them at the door of their meeting place in the guise of an aged sheikh, dressed in a cloak. When they asked him who he was, he replied: ‘A sheikh who has heard of your intended discussion and has come to listen to what you say; and perhaps my opinion and advice will not be lost upon you. ’So he entered with them.” [Ibn Ishaq, Sīrat RasūlAllah, Tr. By Alfred Guillaume, Ox. Univ. Press. 1955 p.221]

Now, can we use authoritative sources to explain the existence of dimensions of time other than our own? Can we explain ‘a day like a year’?

Since the Qur’ān declares of itself that it explains all things (Qur’ān, al-Nahl,16:89), the implication is that it must explain those statements of the blessed Prophet (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) which are beyond normal human understanding. Our purpose in this essay is to turn to the Qur’ān in an effort to locate the explanation of this enigmatic Hadīth concerning the 40 day lifespan (on earth) of Dajjāl, the False Messiah.

‘Time’ existed when we did not

Islam has taught that there was a time when mankind did not exist and that all of mankind was created as an act of divine grace at a moment in time; thus time pre-existed mankind. Islam has also taught that a time would come when everything would perish and only the divine countenance would remain. (Qur’ān, al-Rahmān, 55:267); hence time would continue to exist even when mankind no longer exists. Consider the following verse:

“Has there not been over Man a long period of time when he was not a thing of which mention could be made (i.e.,non-existent)?” [Qur’ān, al-Dahr,76:1]

Secondly, Islam has taught that mankind was originally created and placed in al-Jannah (paradise) in a dimension of time other than the biological time in which we are now located and in which we grow old. And it was in consequence of an act of disobedience of a divine command that mankind was expelled from that dimension of time and placed temporarily in this dimension of time in which we now exist.

The implication is that while mankind possesses a reality that is dependent on time, time possesses a reality that is independent of mankind. What is the reality of time? Allah Most High has declared of Himself that He is time:

It is a basic characteristic of the modern godless age that it uses every possible trick to try to destroy the harmonious natural link between time and life as ordained in Islam, the one true religion. It thus seeks to corrupt our perception of time as well as our capacity to measure time in any other than a mechanical way. In fact that godless age seeks to replace our natural sacred conception of time with a secular conception of time.

The modern godless Euro-Christian and Euro-Jewish age has, for example, renamed all twelve months of the year, from ‘January’ to ‘December’, and all seven days of the week, from ‘Sunday’ to ‘Saturday’, with the names of pagan European gods and goddesses. That did not occur by accident. It has nevertheless escaped the attention of modern Islamic scholarship.

Also, a day no longer ends with the spectacular and dramatic event of sunset, as it naturally does. Instead, it now ends at midnight and a new day consequently begins at that totally irrelevant, inconsequential and meaningless moment in time when the overwhelming majority of people are asleep.

A new month no longer begins and a previous month ends as nature has ordained, with the excitement and the incomparable splendor and beauty of a slender new moon gracefully adorning the sky just after sunset. Rather, the length of each month was arbitrarily determined by a European Pope. Some months were arbitrarily assigned 30 days, and others stuffed with 31, while hapless February suffered the abiding embarrassment of being sometimes this (i.e., 28 days) and sometimes that (i.e., 29 days).

Even a day is no longer divided into parts that bear some relationship to the movement of the sun, as in the passage from false dawn to true dawn, to sparkling early morning light, to the bright light of the day, and then to the declining sun, fading light, and to twilight, moonlight, starlight, dark night and intense darkness, etc. Rather a mechanical passage of time is now regulated through the entirely arbitrary division of a day and night into 24 equal parts called hours, and each hour into 60 equal parts called minutes, etc. A misplaced sense of convenience and a quest for the efficient exploitation of time for mundane purposes took precedence over that sacred precise passage of a day.

Sacred time functioned as a strategically important system of signs and symbols beckoning the human soul to the world of the sacred. Sacred time thus helped us to produce sages. The secularization and consequent mechanization of time broke those links with the world of the sacred and confined the importance of time to its functional material worldly utility.
It is also no accident that the cemeteries of modern cities are located far outside those cities and towns. The hidden purpose is to imprison the mind and heart in the life of this world and, in the process, to cause us forget about death, about life beyond death and, consequently, about other dimensions of time.

Television and the rest of the news media are used to manipulate news and events in such wise as to imprison mankind in the tyranny of the ‘moment’. Images and stories flash across the television screen with a rapidity that distorts, reduces and eventually destroys the mind’s capacity to ponder and reflect. Most people are hence reduced to living mindlessly, day to day and moment to moment. Yesterday fades away and no longer impacts on the consciousness. Tomorrow is but an extension of today’s fantasies.

The entirely predictable consequence has been that people have lost the capacity to connect the past with the present. Nor can they anticipate a future that would add up to make a meaningful whole. They cannot read and understand the movement of history. They are not even conscious of the movement of time in history. Hence they cannot recognize, nor understand, a mysteriously unfolding imperial agenda in the Holy Land, as well as in the world at large, that a strange Euro-Christian and Euro-Jewish alliance has been pursuing for centuries.

That agenda is about to culminate with the Euro-Jewish State of Israel emerging as the third and last ruling State in the world, and with someone ruling the world from Jerusalem and declaring himself to be the true Messiah. That is the ultimate deception! Yet the modern age has mysteriously succeeded, and amazingly so, in pursuading so many in the world of Islam to slavishly imitate and follow that strange Euro-Christian and Euro-Jewish alliance’s modern western civilization down into the proverbial lizard’s hole.

‘Time’ and Signs of the Last Day

True religion exists when ‘truth’ penetrates and then resides in the heart. The manner in which we measure the passage of time is a matter of great importance indeed since it reveals the kind of heart a person has. Among the Signs of the Last Day as disclosed by Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is that:

“Time would move faster, so that a whole year would pass like a month, a month would pass like a week, a week like a day, a day like an hour, and an hour like the amount of time it takes to kindle a fire.” [Narrated by Anas ibn Malik and transmitted in the Sunan of Tirmīdhī]

He explained that the perception of time moving faster would be in consequence of the ‘remembrance’ of Allah Most High (Dhikr) departing from the heart, and a pre-occupation with the worldly life (Dunyah) taking exclusive possession of the heart. Such hearts would not be bothered in the least with such things as Dhikr i.e.,the ‘remembrance’ of Allah Most High.

What is ‘remembrance’? When a man visits in his heart the woman that he loves, he shudders as an enchanting fragrance envelops his heart. It happens every time! When he hears her name mentioned, the same thing happens. That is ‘remembrance’.

Clearly ‘remembrance’ is only possible when there is true love. And so it is really when love of Allah Most High departs from the heart that ‘time’ moves faster and yet faster.Hence it follows that when sincere love for Allah Most High takes possession of the heart, time would surely move slower and a believer would interact with the passage of time in life in a manner that would be meaningful and beneficial.

These hapless people who are imprisoned in a world of ever fleeting time are paying the price of being further trapped in the fleeting moment and hence the ‘here’ and ‘now’. They will never be able to read and understand the passage of time or the movement of time in history. They will thus be taken for a ride and remain totally heedless of their pathetic state as they fall into a bottomless pit.

The consequence of spiritual vacuum in the Last Age would be moral collapse to such an extent that:

“..people would make business agreements with one another and scarcely anyone would fulfill his trust”.

The spiritual vacuum and moral collapse would so incapacitate judgment as to render people incapable of distinguishing men of integrity from charlatans:

“..it would be said that among such and such a tribe there is a trustworthy man. People would remark how intelligent, excellent and resolute a man he is while (in fact) he would not have as much faith (in Allah) in his heart as a grain of a mustard seed.”

[Both quotes above taken from a Hadīth narrated by Hudhaifa and transmitted in the Sahīh of Bukhāri as well as Muslim.]

The blessed Prophet also warned that such would be a time of great betrayals in which:

“Temptations would be presented to men’s hearts as a reed mat is woven stick by stick, and any heart which is impregnated by them would have a black mark put in it. The result would be that hearts would be of two kinds: one, white like a white stone, which would not be harmed by temptation as long as the heavens and earth endure, and the other, black and dust colored like a vessel which is upset, incapable of recognizing what is reputable, or rejecting what is disreputable, but being enveloped by its passion.” [Narrated by Hudhaifa and transmitted in the Sahīh of Muslim.]

There can be no doubt whatsoever that this so-called age of ‘progress’ is, indeed, the age when these signs of the Last Day have appeared.

This is the age of secularism. Even the state is secular, and so too politics, the economy, education, the market, the media, sports, and entertainment. The dining room, living room and even bedroom are today also secularized. Secularism begins by ‘excluding God’, and culminates by ‘denying Him’! When knowledge is secularized it leads to the belief that knowledge comes from only one source, i.e., external observation and rational enquiry. The implication of the adoption of this epistemology is the inevitable conclusion that since this material world is the only world we can ever ‘know’ in this way, it follows that this is the only world that really ‘exists’.

Thus it is secularism leads to materialism, i.e., the acceptance, for all practical purposes, that there is no reality beyond material reality, and hence, that there are no other dimensions of time other than this world of time in which we exist. Materialism has led, naturally so, to greed, lies, promiscuity, injustice, oppression, godlessness, and great betrayals since the moral foundations of society cannot be sustained without the spiritual heart of religion. That heart can neither be built, nor sustained, without belief in transcendent alverities (such as God, Angels, heaven and hell) that exist in a world beyond the material world. Even the passage of life through time can easily become meaningless when no other time exists than ‘here’ and ‘now’, and no other world exists other than this.

The Integration of life with ‘time’

The counting of the passage of years is a matter of great import. How a person counts the passage of time determines who he is! “Tell me how you count the passing years and I will tell you who you are!”

Omar Khayyam lamented the passage of the years:

“Whether in Nishapur or in Babylon, Whether the cup with sweet or bitter run, The wine of life keeps oozing drop by drop, The leaves of life keep falling one by one!” [Rubaiyyat]

But the passage of time provokes a quite different response in the heart which possesses faith in Allah Most High, and in a life that is positively integrated with the movement of time! It provides a means for the believing woman, for example, to interact positively and harmoniously with her passing years.

Anyone with a personality that is sufficiently developed aesthetically to appreciate beauty would agree that nothing in the heavens above can compare in beauty with the sight of the new crescent moon and star joined together in an enchanting embrace. The passage of a new lunar month in the sky above symbolizes the passage of life itself.

Thus it is that when a baby girl was born it was as though a new moon had appeared in the sky and that a new world had come into being. Every one adored her. Everyone took her in their loving arms. She crawled – she walked – she played – she laughed – she sang – she danced. She had narry a care in the world as she playfully traversed the spring time of her childhood and youth. She was a miracle to behold.

Then she blushed with shyness as she welcomed her summer time when she bloomed and blossomed into a woman more beautiful than a rain drop on a rainbow that falls gently upon a rose petal. The world gazed in wonder at her beauty and from their lips came the words: SubhanAllah! The singers sang of her, the poets composed verses about her. And this, also, was a miracle to behold.

And then autumn overtook her as the green leaves of her life began to turn to brown. Wrinkles appeared around her eyes and here and there as trand of her hair turned to grey.

Finally her winter arrived when the moon returned like an old dry withered branch of a date palm (Qur’ān, Yāsīn, 36:39) and she made ready to gracefully fold her tent,to say goodbye, and to disappear into the darkness of the night.

But she was so full of gratitude to Allah Most High all through the journey of life through time. When she had her season of spring she thanked Him for it, and so too her summer and then her autumn and finally her winter. She had no sorrow over the arrival of autumn or winter. She was proud of her grey hairs when they began to mingle with the natural color of her hair. Not for anything that the world could offer did she ever wish to return to her spring or summer for she loved her autumn and her winter just as much. And so she aged gracefully.
The older she grew the more beauty she radiated – an external expression of inner-beauty. And when the time came for the angel of death to take her away, when it was time for the moon to disappear into the darkness of the sky and for the dark night to envelop the world, there were no regrets inparting from the only world she had ever known. She wanted to leave this world with gratitude to Allah in her heart because He had promised those who so thanked him that He would bestow on them an increase of bounty and favors (Qur’ān, Ibrāhīm, 14:7). She did not sigh! She did not share Indian Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar’s lament:

‘Umr daraz maang layay thay char din,

Do arzoo main kat gayay thay,do intizar main!

[From the ‘chest of drawers’ of lifespans,

I sought and obtained (a lifespan of) four days, Two (of the four) have gone in wishing and the other two in waiting!]

Rather, such a believing woman was ever ready to travel on in time to new worlds of time. She never defied the passage of time, and so she never disrespected Allah Most High – because He is time. Whoever lives in harmony with time lives in harmony with his Lord and Creator! Whoever can penetrate time beyond the ‘here and now’ can read and understand the signs of Allah and the signs of the Last Day as they unfold in the movement of history.

The dimension in which we measure the passage of time with days and nights and the seasons of our life as well as the seasons of nature, is provided to us that we might measure the passage of our own individual and collective sojourn on earth. It is a test and trial. It does not represent the totality of time. Rather it constitutes the foundation for our growth into other dimensions of time described in the Qur’ān. As we grow in time, i.e.,in our perception of time and capacity to grasp and understand time as it unfolds in our lives as well as in the external world, we simultaneously enhance our capacity to understand the Last Age as it unfolds in the last stage of the historical process. And that is by far the most important thing that we argue in this chapter.

‘Time’ in the Qur’ān

Allah Most Wise has taught the subject of ‘time’ by scattering pearls of ‘time’ here and there in the Holy Qur’ān and in the life and words of the blessed Messenger of Allah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), and then placing upon the enquirer the onus of gathering those pearls and stringing them to gether as in a necklace.

We have made a humble attempt in this very important section of this chapter to not only locate some of those pearls of ‘time’ in the Qur’ān but to also try to string them together as a necklace.

The Arabs considered ‘Time’ (al-Dahr) to be the ultimate reality. They believed ‘time’ to be the only thing that survived. Everything and everyone would perish and pass away because they would be ‘destroyed ’by ‘Time’:

“And they say: What is there but our life in this world? We shall die and we live and nothing but Time (al-Dahr) can destroy us. But of that they have no knowledge: they engage in mere conjecture.” [Qur’ān, al-Jāthiyah, 45:24]

Modern godless western civilization which recognizes no reality beyond material reality, has declared that ‘time is money’. Time has become a commodity that can be traded, bought and sold. Whenever money, for example, is lent on interest, the time value of money is expressed in interest payments.

Allah Most High responded (in a Hadīth al-Qudsi) by declaring that He Himself is time (al-Dahr):

When Allah Most High declares that He is time the implication is that there is such a thing as absolute time, i.e., that time that exists independently and is not conditioned by other than itself. And when He goes onto point out that “in My Hands are the night and the day”, the further implication is that time, as we know it, i.e.,the conception of time that is grounded in the alternation of night and day, is relative in nature – i.e., relative to Allah’s ‘absolute’ time. Time as we know it, in which measurement is done through the counting of ‘days’, ‘nights’, ‘weeks’, ‘months’, ‘years’, etc., may be described as serial time.

The Qur’ān explains that serial time is just the beginning of time and has been provided for purposes which are utilitarian i.e., so that people may have a means of counting the passage of years and of measuring time in their own mundane temporal world. Serial time is real. It is not to be considered as an illusion or a thing that is unreal:

“It is He Who made the sun to be a shining glory and the moon to be a light (of beauty) and measured outstages for her: that ye might know the number of years and the count (of time). Nowise did Allah create this but in truth and righteousness. (Thus) doth He explain his Signs in detail for those who understand.” [Qur’ān, Yūnus,10:5]

“We have made the Night and the Day as two (of Our) Signs: the Sign of the Night have We made obscure while the Sign of the day We have made to enlighten you; that ye may seek Bounty from your Lord and that ye may know the number and count of the years, and all things have We explained in detail.”
[Qur’ān, Banū Isrāīl,17:12]

The Qur’ān goes onto reveal that between ‘serial’ and ‘absolute’ time there exists seven different worlds of time described as seven Samāwāt (that are usually erroneously translated as seven heavens):

“It is He who hath created for you all things that are on earth; moreover His design comprehended the sky for He gave order and perfection to the seven cosmic stratas (samawat); and of all things he hath perfect knowledge. [Qur’ān, al-Baqarah, 2:29]

“The seven cosmic stratas (samawat) and the earth and all beings therein declare His glory: there is not a thing but celebrates His praise; and yet ye understand not how they declare His glory! Verily He is Oft-Forbearing, Most-Forgiving!” [Qur’ān, Banū Isrāīl, 17:44]

“And We have made above you seven taraāiq (tracts or celestial orbits); and We are never unmindful of (Our) Creation.” [Qur’ān, al-M’uminūn, 23:17]

Say: “Who is the Lord of the seven heavens and the Lord of the Throne (of Glory) Supreme?” [Qur’ān, al-M’uminūn, 23:86]

“So He completed the mass even cosmic stratas (samawat) in two Days and He assigned to each heaven its duty and command. And We adorned the lower heaven with lights and (provided it) with guard. Such is the Decree of (Him) the Exalted in Might Full of knowledge.” [Qur’ān, Fussilāt, 41:12]

“Allah is He Who created seven cosmic stratas (samawat) and of the earth a similar number (i.e., seven stratas of the earth). Through the midst of them (all) descends His Command: that ye may know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah comprehends all things in (His) Knowledge.” [Qur’ān, al-Talāq, 65:12]

“He Who created the seven cosmic stratas (samawat) one above another; no want of proportion wilt thou see in the Creation of (Allah) Most Gracious, so turn thy vision again: Seest thou any flaw?” [Qur’ān, al-Mulk, 67:3]

“See ye not how Allah has created the seven cosmic stratas (samawat) one above another?” [Qur’ān, Nūh, 71:15]

These seven firm bodies are usually recognized as seven ‘heavens’. But they are not heavens at all! Rather they should be recognized as seven different worlds of space and time that stand inbetween earth and Allah Most High on His Summit Throne (al-‘Arsh). Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him) made mention of this in the following Hadīth:

Narrated al-‘Abbās ibn ‘Abdal Muttalib: “I was sitting in al-Batha with a company among whom the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) was sitting, when a cloud passed above them. The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) looked at it and said: What do you call this? They said: Sahab. He said: And muzn? They said: And muzn. He said: And anan? They said: And anan. Abū Daūd said: I am not quite confident about the word anan. He asked: Do you know the distance between the Samā (sky) and Earth? They replied: We do not know. He then said: The distance between them is seventy-one, seventy-two, or seventy-three years. The Samā which is above it is at a similar distance (going on untill he counted seven Samāwāt). Above the seventh Samā there is a sea, the distance between whose surface and bottom is like that between one Samā and the next. Above that there are eight mountain-goats the distance between whose hoofs and haunches is like the distance between one Samā and the next. Then Allah, the Blessed and the Exalted, is above that.” (Abū Dawūd)

It would appear that a different Āalam (world or cosmos) exists in each of these seven Samāwāt. The Qur’ān commenced Sūrah al-Fātihah with a description of Allah Most High as Rab al-Ālamīn (i.e., the Lord God of all the seven worlds):

“Praise be to Allah, the Lord God of (all) the worlds.” [Qur’ān, al-Fātihah,1:2]

What this implies is that in the same way that Allah Most High is Rabb (Lord God) to humankind in this Āalam, so too is He Rabb to those who are located in all the other Ālamūn (plural of Āalam) and who are also supposed to worship Him:

“The seven cosmic stratas (samawat) and the earth, and all-beings therein, declare His glory: there is not a thing but celebrates His praise; and yet ye understand not how they declare His glory! Verily He is Oft-Forbearing, Most ‘Forgiving! [Qur’ān, al-Isrā,17:44]

The Qur’ān actually identifies these seven worlds as different dimensions of space and time. For example it makes mention of a world (Āalam) with a dimension of time in which:

• A ‘day’ is like fifty thousand years:

“The angels and the Spirit ascend unto Him in a Day the measure where of is (as) fifty-thousand years.” [Qur’ān, al-M’ārij, 70:4]

And it makes mention of a second world (Āalam) with a dimension of time in which:

• A ‘day’ is like a thousand years:

“Yet they ask thee to hasten on the Punishment! But Allah will not fail in His promise. Verily a day in the sight of thy Lord is like a thousand years of your reckoning.” [Qur’ān, al-Hajj, 22:47]

“He rules (all) affairs from the heavens to the earth: in the end will (all affairs) go upto Him on a day the measure where of will be (as) a thousand years of your reckoning.” [Qur’ān, al-Sajda, 32:5]

• A day is like three-hundred years

In Sūrah al-Kahf of the Qur’ān, the supreme importance of time in relation to the subject of Dajjāl was dramatically emphasized when Allah Most High declared that He caused the young men to remain in the cave for many years. He then raised them to wakefulness in order to determine which of them would be able to accurately assess the period of time that they had tarried in the cave. They had actually slept for three-hundred years and yet felt that they had tarried for a day or part of a day:

“And there upon We veiled their ears in the cave for many a year, (they were thus cut off from the outside world), and then We awakened them; (and we did all this) so that We might mark out (to the world) which of the two points of view showed a better comprehension of the timespan during which they had remained in that state.” [Qur’ān, al-Kahf, 18:1112]

Such (being their state), We raised them up (from sleep) that they might question each other. One of them asked, “How long have ye stayed (here)?” They said, “We have stayed (perhaps) a day or part of a day.” (At length) they (all) said “Allah (alone) knows best how long ye have stayed here….” [Qur’ān, al-Kahf, 18:19]

“So they stayed in their Cave three-hundred years and (some) add nine (more).” [Qur’ān, al-Kahf,18:25]

Some of the young men responded that they had stayed in the cave for just a day or part of a day. Others, however, could discern spiritually that the passage of time in the cave perhaps exceeded that which was suggested by some of their companions. Indeed some people suggested that the youths had slept in the cave for as long a period of time as three-hundred solar years (equivalent to 309 lunar years).

• A day is like a hundred years:

The Qur’ān has also described the event in which a man passed by a ‘town’ that was lying in ruins (i.e.,Jerusalem) and wondered skeptically how could Allah Most High revive that ‘town’. Where upon Allah caused him to die (metaphorically) for a hundred years and then revived him to ask him how long he had tarried there. His response was “a day or part of a day”:

Or (take) the similitude of one who passed by a town, all in ruins to its roofs. He asked, “How shall Allah bring it (ever) to life, after (this) its death?” but Allah caused him to die for a hundred years, then raised him up (again). He asked, “How long didst thou tarry (thus)?” He replied, “(Perhaps) a day or part of a day.” He responded, “Nay, thou hast tarried thus a hundred years; but look at thy food and thy drink, they show no signs of age; and look at thy donkey. And that We may make of thee a sign unto the people, Look further at the bones, how We bring them together and clothe them with flesh.” When this was shown clearly to him, he said: “I know that Allah hath power over all things.” [Qur’ān, al-Baqarah, 2:259]

The seven different dimensions of space and time appear to exist alongside each other rather than a second beginning where the first ends:

He Who created the seven cosmic stratas (samawat) one beside another; no want of proportion wilt thou see in the Creation of (Allah) Most Gracious, so turn thy vision again: Seest thou any flaw?” [Qur’ān, al-Mulk,67:3]

There is are mark able description of the proximity of different dimensions of time right here on earth in the same passage of the Qur’ān quoted above (Qur’ān, al-Baqarah, 2:259), in which Allah Most High makes mention of the traveler who passed by Jerusalem after the Babylonian destruction and who could not conceive of the dead city ever being revived to life.

The traveller was put to death (sleep is a form of death) for a hundred years and then revived to consciousness. As with the youth, so too did the traveler have the consciousness of having tarried for just a day or part of a day. But the Qur’ān gives a vivid description of two different dimensions of time existing beside each other on earth when it described the fate of the donkey in one dimension of time, and of the food in another. While the donkey, in our dimension of time, starved to death, and the body decomposed until even the bones had crumbled to dust, the food which was preserved in another dimension of time remained fresh even after a hundred years. The lesson from this narrative is that both dimensions of time exist side by side righ there on earth!

We witness exactly the same phenomenon in the next chapter of this book in the story of the young men who were put to sleep in the cave and who slept for three hundred years. Our analysis of that story indicates that their bodies were located simultaneously in two dimensions of time during their long sleep in the cave. In the first dimension of time their bodies kept on rolling to the left and to the right in synchrony with the movement of the sun, i.e., morning and evenings. In the second dimension of time their bodies displaye dno visible signs of biological growth and ageing despite the passage of three hundred years.

Different dimensions of time and of space can all belocated Tibāqa, i.e., together or along side each other.

We can now understand how unseen recording angels who exist in a different dimension of space and time can be constantly present on both our shoulders as we live here on earth, and how unseen Jinn can also be constantly present all around us. They are present around us while yet not present in the same dimension of space and time in which we exist. Hence it is that we cannot see them. Consider the following verse of the Qur’ān:

O Children of Adam! let not Satan seduce you, in the same manner as he got your parents out of the Garden, stripping them of their raiment,to expose their shame: for he and his tribe watch you from a place where ye cannot see them (i.e.,they observe you from a dimension of space and time beyond your observation–hence from an unseen world): We made the Evil Ones friends (only) to those without Faith. [Qur’ān: al-‘Arāf, 7:27]

The lesson from the above narrative pertaining to the ‘food’ and the ‘donkey’ extends beyond recognition of two worlds of time existing side by side right here on earth. The food, while still located in this world of time, was also preserved in a second world of time in which it remained fresh despite the passage of three hundred years. In other words, continuous travel or passage between two worlds of time occurred in this event.

The same thing occurred in the case of the young men in the cave as described in Sūrah al-Kahf. Their bodies remained physically for three hundred years in the cave in this world of time while yet preserved in another world of time in which they never grew old. And the same travel or passage through different worlds of time occurred in the Isrā and M’irāj of Prophet Muhammad (sallalahu ‘alaihi wasallam).

In view of the fact, however, that the Prophet (sallalahu ‘alaihi wasallam) had to be taken by Burāq to the Holy Land in order to be further transported into the Samāwāt, it now seems clear that this phenomenon of travel between other dimensions of time and our time is possible, perhaps only in the Holy Land. Hence the ‘town’ that was lying in ruins had to be Jerusalem, and so the miraculous event concerning the donkey and the food occurred in the Holy Land. The Cave in Sūrah al-Kahf also had to be located somewhere in or around the Holy Land. It was from the Holy Land that Jesus, the Son of Mary (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon them both), was raised into the Samawāt. And when here turns from the Samawāt it should be in or around Jerusalem that he would descend.

Evolutionary Time

Our teacher of blessed memory, Maulāna Dr. Muhammad Fadlur Rahmān Ansāri (1914–1974), interpreted the divine guidance in much the same way as did Maulāna Jalāluddin Rūmī to explain that while all creation commenced with the command “Kun” (Be!) yet all created things proceeded to evolve through different stages indifferent worlds. He described a world of light in which beings of light, namely Angels, came into being, and a world of fire in which Jinn came into being, and, finally, a world of clay in which humankind emerged. He consequently believed that ‘time’, like everything else in Allah’s creation, evolved until it finally emerged in the form in which we perceive it now.

What this chapter suggests is that the evolution of time took place in its passage or movement through different Samawāt or worlds of time. And once we understand and accept that process the interpretation of the all important Hadīth concerning Dajjāl’s lifespan on earth becomes possible. Here is a description of Maulāna’s Qur’anic cosmology in which time evolves. The quotation is taken from his two volume masterpiece, ‘The Qur’anic Foundations and Structure of Muslim Society’:

“God’s relationship with the cosmos as its Creator emerges in the Qur’ān at two levels, i.e.,the levels of al-Amr and al-Khalq,—both established and united under that Attribute of God which relates to cherishing, nourishing, evolving and perfecting, i.e., al-Rabb:

“……Lo! His is al-Khalq and al-Amr. Blessed is Allah the Rabb of the worlds (i.e., the entire cosmos).” [Qur’ān, al‘Arāf, 7:54]

Thus, the Creation began with God’s Amr:

“The Originator of the heavens and the earth; and when so ever He decrees an affair (Amr), He only says to it `Be’ and it becomes. (Hence the origination of the cosmos also took place as a result of Allah’s Command ‘Be’).” [Qur’ān, al-Baqarah, 2:117]

“His Amr (i.e., law of bringing something into existence) is that when He intends a thing, He only says, to it (by way of Command, or, Amr): ‘Be’! and it becomes.” [Qur’ān, Yasin, 36:82]

Hence the first stage in the creation of the cosmos should be affirmed in terms of ‘Becoming’. We may also call it the stage of subtle existence, intangibility (as opposed to the tangibility of matter), and spacelessness cum timelessness.

Looking at the process of creation in the background of the concept of evolution projected explicitly in the Qur’ān, we arrive at the view of evolutionary creation,wherein—like the evolutionary hypothesis in modern Science—we are led to the affirmation of the ‘Primeval-Atom’ as the starting point, which functioned as the nucleus and out of which grew the entire cosmos through an evolutionary process—, wherein the concept of the ‘First Created Light functioning as Nucleus ’has been projected.

The unique position which he holds among all creatures has been unambiguously affirmed also in a Hadith reported by the Holy Prophet’s Companion Jabir and upheld as authentic in Islamic history by eminent authorities, among whom may be mentioned, by way of example, one of the classical Qur’anic commentators, Allama Alusi (vide his classical Tafsir, the Rūh al Ma’ani, vol.1, p.51). It is to the effect:

“Jābir reports: I said ‘O Messenger of Allah! Inform me about that which Allah created before all (other) things’. He replied: Verily, Allah, the Almighty, created before all (other) things the Light of thine Prophet through His Light….” (Quoted on the authority of muhaddith`Abdal Razzāq [the eminent forerunner of Imām al-Bukhāri and author of Al-Musannaf] by Allāma Yusuf b. Ismail al-Nabhāni, in Al-Anwār al-Muhammadiyyah min Mawāhib al-Ludunniyah, p.12, Beirut, 1310A.H.). The Hadīth then proceeds to inform that the entire universe was created by God from that original created Light, which the luminaries of Islam have named as the ‘Light of Muhammad’.

As for the nature of the evolutionary process, it should be conceived, in the very nature of the case, in terms of progressive decrease in subtlety, refinement, intangibility and qualitativeness, and progressive increase in respect of concreteness, crystallization, tangibility and quantitativeness: on the basis of a progressive crystallization of the process of al-Khalq, which implies the creation of new objects from the existing materials. In other words, it must have begun a progress towards more and more profound ‘expression’. This is what we understand from the Qur’ān as well as from Science.

Indeed, different things appear in the Qur’ān to have emerged into dynamic existence at different stages of the evolutionary process. Thus, there existed the angels, the jinn and the human beings in that pre-physical, or, transcendental, dimension of existence; and, among them, the angels and the jinn were there prior to the existence of the human beings, as the Holy Qur’ān testifies (Qur’ān, al-Baqarah, 2:30-34). Then, according to what we read in the Holy Book in plain terms, humanity was made to appear before God in her transcendental, or, pre-earthly, dimension of existence, to proclaim the Covenant of Monotheism (Qur’ān, al‘Arāf, 7:172) — which means that human beings existed at that stage of Creation. Similarly, the event of the ‘Covenant of the Prophets’ has been mentioned therein to have occurred in that stage of Creation (Qur’ān, Ale-‘Imrān, 3:81, — which proves the existence of the Prophets at that stage.

All this means that a Realm of Created Beings and Things became gradually established in respect of their essential orideal nature, even in the first stage of creation. But evolution was to continue, and has continued, according to God’s Plan. However Allah set a measure or scale of growth of all things:

“Allah has set a measure (or, a scale of growth and maturity — which enshrines its destiny) for everything.” [Qur’ān, al-Talāq, 65:3]

In consequence certain things that had emerged from potentiality into actuality, had to stay in the state they had acquired — the angels, for instance; while others had to continue their evolutionary journey, finally emerging in the Spatio-Temporal Order of Existence — the human beings, for instance. [‘Qur’anic Foundations and Structure of Muslim Society’, Vol.2, pp 16-17].

The Qur’anic cosmology presented above describes a process of evolutionary creation. It therefore confirms an evolution of time through different dimensions of time. The logical implication is that all creation evolved through different dimensions of time before finally emerging in the dimension of space and time in which we live and die. The Qur’ān affirms the existence of seven different Samawāt that exist each beside the other, and this implies that seven different dimensions of time are all simultaneously present, all accessible, and all capable of impacting on life on earth:

“He Who created the seven skies (hence seven different dimensions of space and time) layer after layer (or strata after strata, each beyond the other, each merging perfectly with the other): no defect wilt thou see in the Creation of (Allah) Most Gracious. So turn thy vision again: seest thou any flaw?” [Qur’ān, al-Mulk, 67:3]

“Do you not see how Allah has created the seven cosmic stratas (samawat) layer after layer (or strata after strata one beyond the other)…..” [Qur’ān, Nuh, 71:15]

Similarly the Qur’ān affirms that mankind passed through the same process of emergence (or evolution) through different dimensions of space and time until we emerged in this world:

“So I do call to witness the ruddy glow of Sunset; The Night and its Homing; And the Moon in her Fullness: Ye shall surely travel from stratum to stratum (i.e.,from one dimension of space and time to another, and then another, etc., in the seven stratas of creation).” [Qur’ān, al-Inshiqāq, 84:16-19]

Every human being experiences in the phenomenon of true dreams – sometimes known as prophetic dreams – the passage, or evolution, of a created event through these different worlds. Dreams that come true provide direct evidence that a transcendental world exists. Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) declared of true dreams and visions (and this includes spiritual insight) that they would be the last surviving part of prophethood that would remain in the world after him. But they do something else. When faith in Allah Most High enters into the heart then two things depart from the heart – namely fear and grief, and hope takes in their place – hope for good in this life and in the next. When the believer experiences continuous true dreams then hope is transformed into joy since they represent confirmation of the fulfillment of hope:

“When the time (of the end of the world) draws close, the dreams of a believer will hardly fail to come true, and a dream of a believer is one of the forty six parts of prophethood.” [Sahīh Bukhāri]

The only possible way that one can explain the phenomenon of a true or prophetic dream is that event before they occur. In other words, the process of creation of an event commences with the divine command be!, and then passes through various dimensions of space and time until it culminates as an actual event in this world of space and time. It is when that event is intercepted before it occurs in this world, and the news of the event is communicated in the form of a dream, that we experience the phenomenon of a true or prophetic dream.

Thus a true dream can only be explained if one accepts the existence of dimensions or worlds of space and time beyond that which we directly experience. There is a reality that is transcendental (or spiritual). Spiritual ‘substance’ emerges in material ‘form’ in every thing that exists, and everything that occurs. All that appears in material ‘form’ were so ‘fashioned’ by Allah Most High that they might function as symbols (Āyāt) which would lead to, and reveal, their spiritual ‘substance’.

And so, the event seen in a true predictive dream would be an event created by Allah Most High which first exists only in the dimension of spiritual ‘substance’. It subsequently emerges as material ‘form’, and the dream then becomes a reality.

It should be clear that we cannot locate the second sky or stratum physically at a point where the first sky or stratum ends, for that would place the second sky or stratum in the same dimension of space as the first. It might be more appropriate to conceive of all seven stratas with their different dimensions of space and time as overlapping each other or merging into each other, instead of a spatially vertical juxtaposition of the seven skies or strata. So one does not need a spaceship with which to travel for light years before exhausting one dimension of space and time and entering another. One can step from one dimension of time into a second in a fleeting moment. Nor would it require any movement in our space or our time to take that step. Rather we can do it every time we stand in worship to perform our Salāt (prayer). This explains both the miracle of the blessed Prophet’s Isrā and M’irāj when he traveled in a fleeting moment from Makkah to Jerusalem and through all seven transcendental worlds of space and time before returning to Makkah. This may also explain the phenomenon of the ascension of Jesus (‘alaihissalam) into the heavens and his eventual return to this dimension of space and time at that time when Dajjāl would have completed his mission. When Jesus returns to our dimension of time after more than 2000 years away from us, he would not have aged by as much as even a day.

Sūrah al-Fātihah and the different worlds of time

The blessed Prophet declared of Sūrah al-Fātihah that it was the greatest Sūrah of the Qur’ān. There was nothing in previously revealed scriptures that could compare with it, and that it could cure all illnesses. Consider the following Ahādith:

Narrated Abu Said Al-Mualla: While I was praying, the Prophet called me but I did not respond to his call. Later I said, “O Allah’s Apostle! I was praying.” He asked, “Didn’t Allah say: O you who believe! Give your response to Allah (by obeying Him) and to His Apostle when he calls you?” (8.24) He then asked, “Shall I not teach you the most superior Sūrah in the Qur’ān?” He said, “(It is), Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. (i.e., Sūrah al-Fātiha) which consists of seven off recited verses of the Magnificent Qur’ān which was given to me.” [Sahīh Bukhāri]

Abdullah Ibn ‘Abbās reported that the Prophet said: “Rejoice in the two lights brought to you which have not been brought to any Prophet before you: al-Fatihah and the last verses of Sūrah al-Baqarah (2:28-45).” [Muslim]

Abū Hurayrah reported that the Prophet said: “By Him in whose hands is my soul, nothing like it (i.e.,Sūrah al-Fātihah) has been sent down in the Tauraat, nor in the Injīl, nor in the Zabūr, nor (elsewhere) in the Qur’ān.” [Tirmīdhi]

‘Abdal Malik Ibn ‘Umayr reported that the Prophet said that “Sūrah al-Fātihah is a healing for every sickness.” [Tirmīdhī, Dārimi and Bayhaqi]

Narrated Alaqah ibn Sahar at-Tamīmi: Alaqah came to the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) and embraced Islam. He then came back from him and passed some people who had a lunatic fettered in chains. His people said: We are told that your companion has brought much that is good. Have you something with which you can cure him? I then recited Sūrah al-Fātihah and he was cured. They gave me one hundred sheep. I then came to the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) and informed him of it. He asked: Is it only this? The narrator, Musaddad, said in his other version: Did you say anything other than that? I said: No. He said: Take it, for by my life, some accept it for a worthless chain, but you have done so for a genuine one.” [Sunan Abū Daūd]

Narrated Abū Saīd: Some of the companions of the Prophet went on a journey untill they reached some of the Arab tribes (at night). They asked the latter to treat them as their guests but they refused. The chief of that tribe was then bitten by a snake (or stung by a scorpion) and they tried their best to treat him but in vain. Some of them said (to the others), “Nothing has benefited him, will you go to the people who are spending the night here, may be some of them might possess something (that can cure).” They went to the group of the companions (of the Prophet) and said, “Our chief has been bitten by a snake (or stung by a scorpion) and we have tried everything but he has not benefited. Have you got anything (useful)?” One of them replied, “Yes, by Allah! I can recite a Ruqya, but as you have refused to accept us as your guests,I will not recite the Ruqya for you unless you fix for us some wages for it.” They agreed to pay them a flock of sheep. One of them then went and recited (Sūrah al-Fātihah): All the praises are for the Lord of the Worlds. He then blew with his breath over the chief who was then healed as if he was released from shakles. He got up and started walking, showing no signs of sickness. They paid them what they agreed to pay. Some of them (i.e.the companions) then suggested to divide their earnings among themselves, but the one who performed the recitation said, “Do not divide them till we go to the Prophet and narrate the whole story to him, and wait for his order.” So, they went to Allah’s Apostle and narrated the story. Allah’s Apostle asked, “How did you come to know that Sūrah al-Fātiha was recited as Ruqya?” Then he added, “You have done the right thing. Divide (what you have earned) and assign a share for me as well.” The Prophet smiled thereupon.

Our view, and Allah knows best, is the above indicate that the seven Āyāt (verses) of Sūrah al-Fātihah have the capacity to spiritually transport the true servant of Allah, even while he is in Salāt, through the seven dimensions of space and time and to deliver him/her spiritually to a special proximity with Allah Most High in a timeless world. This phenomenon constitutes the M’iraj of the believers. In other words, spiritual travel (M’irāj) commences at the very beginning of Salāt with the recitation of Sūrah al-Fātihah. Each of the seven Ayāt (verses) of Sūrah al-Fātihah can spiritually transport the worshipper through one of the seven Samawāt or dimensions of space and time until, by the time he recites Āmīn, he arrives spiritually at the ‘Arsh. He would then be in the special presence of Allah Most High, and the rest of the Raka’ah (or cycle of prayer) would be performed in that special divine presence.

This, perhaps, explains why the blessed Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah Most High be upon him) always recited each verse of Sūrah al-Fātihah separately and never joined two of its verses together in recitation. It also forces those who thought otherwise to now recognize the Basmallah as the first verse of Sūrah al-Fātihah and, consequently to further recognize the imperative of reciting it aloud in Salāt along with its other six Āyāt.

We may now conclude with the recognition of the following seven worlds or dimensions of time:

“Verily, a man hath preformed prayers, fasting, charity, pilgrimage, and all other good works, but he will not be rewarded except by the proportion of his understanding”

“It is not a sixth or a ten of Man’s devotion which is acceptable to Allah, but only such proportions thereof as he offereth with understanding and true devotional spirit.”

Introduction

During the course of our lives we are confronted with many complex questions, some posed by our very own curiosity and some by others. Due to the nature of these questions, it is often difficult to find the correct answers, and so many of us allow them to languish on the dusty shelves in the nether reaches of our minds.

Like countless others before, many of us have questions we would not dare to ask. Out of a false sense of piety and ancestral solidarity we hypocritically submit to custom and ‘tribal’ religion. In silence we languish, and, with curiosity carelessly cast over our shoulders, we make up our drunken melodies and whistle them away.

We look at the miracle of life all around us, ignoring what we see, discarding precious opportunity … the opportunity to discover the truth. But in order to find the answer, we must first ask the question. Who is Allah? Who are we? What is the purpose of our lives? Where do we go from here? The answers to these questions will not only determine the way we think, but also our actions, our attitudes toward those around us and the circumstances that prevail

Fortunately, in our quest for answers we discover an exceptional gift called reason. By nurturing it through education, we are then able to distinguish right from wrong, good from evil and true success from failure. By this effort we begin to understand and then enjoy faith, for knowing is the greatest joy. It creates hunger for truth, and a passion for doing all that is good.

Many have unfulfilled lives due only to the lack of ambition, an ambition to search for and to know the truth of human existence. Only by discovering the truth can humankind truly flourishes …the truth of mans servitude to a single absolute creator.

Did Allah create me? If so, who created Allah?

How do we know that we’ve been created by some ‘God’? Is it not possible to explain our origins in some other more logical way?
We also say that Allah (God) does indeed exist. The chief among our proofs is the law of causation which stipulates that every artifact, creature or existent must have been brought into being by a creator, or efficient cause: a piece of fabric points to a weaver, a painting to a painter, an engraving to an engraver. The universe, according to this logic, is the most cogent proof of an All-Powerful Allah who created it.

Granted that we believe in this creator, aren’t we entitled, according to this same logic, to ask, “Who created the Creator? Who created that Allah we talk about?” Doesn’t our own reasoning and in keeping with the same law of causation lead us to this question?

Yet another doubt arises. Why do we say that Allah is one? Why shouldn’t there be many Gods sharing the ‘work’ among themselves? Can there be more than one creator with such absolute attributes? Can there for example be two absolutely powerful creators?

The Origins of the Universe

For everything, like man, there has a beginning in time; there can be only three ways of explaining how it came to be:

Either it was made, or created, or caused by nothing at all. In other words, it came out of nothing. Or it created itself. Or it has a creator, cause or maker outside itself

The first and second explanations are obviously impossible. It is inconceivable for something that has a beginning in time to come out of or be made of nothing at all. It is inconceivable that it should bring itself in to being. The universe and all that is in it, therefore, could not have created itself nor did it come about by chance.

The conclusion then is clear. The universe and all that is in it owes its existence to a Creator or Maker outside itself. We, as human beings, as a part of the universe, owe our existence to such a Creator. To say, as many do, that human beings evolved over time from other creatures or that they originated from water, or that there was a big bang and everything just happened to fall into place, does not really answer the question about the origin of the universe and all that is in it, including human beings. We can therefore conclude that any set of beliefs that denies or does not accept the existence of a Creator is False.

Who created the Creator?

Further regarding the question as to who created the Creator, there is no dilemma or anything or that sort. We admit that Allah is the absolute Creator but then we ask about who created Him, making him both creator and created in the same sentence, which is a contradiction. The other side of the question’s meaninglessness is that we imagine the Creator as being the subject to the laws which govern his creatures. It is Allah who created the law of causation and we cannot consider Him as subject to the law which he created. Causation’s a law for us who are lying in space and time. The primary constitutive elements of our universe, which is just one of the innumerous creations of Allah, are matter space and time. Allah, who created space and time, is necessarily transcendent in relation to both and it is an error on our part to think that he is bound either by them or by their laws. In fact it would be preposterous to ask the question as to what was there before Allah or who created Allah for there existed no time before Allah created time itself, thus the question of ‘before’ outside time isn’t possible.

In our misunderstanding, we are like those old dolls that, seeing that they move by springs, imagining that the human being who made them must also derive his motion from the action of springs. If they were told that he is self-moved, they would retort that it is completely impossible for anything to move spontaneously since everything in their world is moved by a spring. Just like them, we cannot imagine that Allah exists in His own essence with no need of an efficient cause, for this is because we see everything around us in need of such a cause.

Aristotle followed the chain of causality tracing they chair from wood, wood from tree, tree from seed, and seed from planter. He had to conclude that this chain which regresses into infinite time must have begun with and ‘uncaused’ cause, a primiummobile in no need of a mover, a creator who hasn’t been created. This is the same thing we assert to Allah.

Consequent Attributes

The Creator is of a different nature from all that has been created. This is because if He is considered to be one of the same nature as they are, He will need to have a beginning in time and will therefore need a maker. However we have to explain that it is He who has created time itself and is not subject to it. One word for “to have a beginning in time’ is temporal. If the Maker or Creator is not temporal, he must be eternal. Eternal, means to have no beginning or end in time.

If the Maker is eternal, He cannot be caused and if nothing caused him to come into existence, nothing outside Him causes Him to continue to exist, which means that he is self-sufficient. Self-sufficient, means that the Creator does not depend on anyone or anything to exist, and if he does not depend on anything to exist, then his existence can have no end. The Creator is therefore eternal and everlasting.

If the Creator is eternal and everlasting, then all His qualities must be eternal and everlasting. This means for example, that if He is powerful, then he must always be powerful. He cannot cease to be powerful. If he is all-knowing, then he is always all-knowing. If he is wise, he must always be wise. If he is kind and just, then be must always be kind and just. The creator doesn’t loose nor acquire any new qualities. Qualities that do not chance and that last forever are absolute qualities. Another name for qualities is attributes.

The Mind Comprehends only Particulars

Philosophers have realized that the mind cannot comprehend infinite realities and that it is, by nature, fitted only to apprehend particulars. It is incapable of apprehending such a universal of total existence as that of the Divinity. Allah was known by conscience, not by reason alone. Just as the new-born baby’s thirst for milk is a proof that is exists out there in the vast world beyond its mother’s womb, our yearning for justice, for example, is proof to us that a just Being exists ‘out there’.

Indeed human beings do have a special gift or power – the power of reason and logic. But we must realize that this power is, in itself limited: it is like a precision balance which might use for weighing gold but one would be vain and foolish to think it to weigh mountains. No single person on his own, no matter how clever he may be, can give complete, valid and satisfying answers to the questions about the origins of the world, and mans place in it, about life and destiny. No group of persons can do so either. For example, all the knowledge of the world and the universe amassed by philosophers and scientists in the future may come to know, there will always be a point of where they must say ‘We do not know!’. From the standpoint of science, the universe is like an old book, of which the first and last pages of which have been lost. Neither the beginning nor the end is known. Thus, the worldview of science is knowledge of the part, not of the whole.

Science -a Limited Worldview

Science, as the word is now widely understood, acquaints us with the situation of some parts of the universe; it cannot explain the essential character of the whole universe, its origins or its destiny. The scientist’s worldview is like the knowledge about the elephant gained by those who touched it in the dark. The one who felt the elephant’s ear supposed it to be a shaped like a fan; the one who felt its leg, supposed it to be shaped like a column; the one who felt its back supposed it to be shaped like a throne and the one who felt its trunk, supposed it to be shaped like a serpent. Science, it has been said is like a powerful searchlight in the long winter night, lighting up a small area in its beam but unable to shed like beyond its border. This is not to pronounce on its usefulness of otherwise, it is only to say that it is limited.
From another quarter, Ibn Al ‘Arabi, May Allah shower him with mercy, the Muslim mystic, replied to the question as to who made the creator saying that it can only occur to a disordered mind. According to him, it is Allah who substantiates existence and it would be erroneous to point to existence or the universe as a proof of Allah. This is the same as saying that light indicates day and it would be a lopsided argument to claim the day proves the existence of light. For everything besides Allah is false and it is Allah who aids in proving and finding, there is no proof leading to Allah. Allah is the proof which is no need of another proof. He is the self-evident truth and He is the evidence of that substantiates everything.

He is manifest in order, precision, beauty and regularity; in tree leaves, in feathers of a fawn, in the wings of a butterfly, in the fragrance of flowers, in the chanting of the nightingale, in the harmony of planets and stars which make up that symphonic poem that we call the universe. If we allege that all this came into being by chance, we would be like a person who believes that throwing a million letters into a space can result in its spontaneous assembly, into an authorless Shakespearean sonnet. The Qur’an spares us all these arguments with a few expressive words. It says without sophistry and in decisive clarity:“Say, that Allah is One, the Absolute and Eternal. He begot none nor was he begotten. And none is equal to Him.” [Qur’ab 112, 1-4]

Could Allah not be ‘Two’?

However, as alluded to in the introduction, yet another doubt arises. Why do we say that Allah is one? Why shouldn’t there be many Gods sharing the ‘work’ among themselves? Can there be more than one creator with such absolute attributes? Can there for example be two absolutely powerful creators?
That is not possible. Why? If a maker is absolutely powerful, it follows that he is absolutely free of to do whatever he wishes. But if another maker with similar powers exists and they differ over the making of something, they of the two things can happen. Either, one will overcome the other, in case the latter cannot be absolutely powerful. Or, they will neutralize each other, in which case both the powers are limited.

This epitomized that in the parable of the simple old yarn spinner when she was asked by her skeptical friend, “How do you know that God exists?” The old lady replied saying, “I am a simple old woman who does not know much. However this much I do know, that when I turn my spindle it moves and when I leave it, it stops. Never does it move on its own accord. Thus I see the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, the moon traveling its course, the stars swimming harmoniously through the heavens, the rain falling gently, the trees growing tall and strong, the flowers blossoming exquisitely, the birds flying by gracefully and I know that there must be some great mover, some great creator of this beauty” Hearing this, her skeptical friend retorted, “Very well! Admitted that there must be some creator, how do we know that he is one God, and not many Gods?” They old woman calmly replied again, “I am a simple old woman who does not know much. However this much is do know, that if I trying to turn my spindle in one direction, and you were trying to turn my spindle in the other direction, then one of three things would happen. Either I would be stronger than you, in which case it would go in one direction, or you would be stronger and it would go in the other direction or we would break the spindle in our struggle. Thus never do I ever see this sun rising in the east one day, and the west the next, nor the moon traveling its course one day and in disarray the next, nor the stars swimming harmoniously one day and in confusion the next, nor the rain falling down one day and ascending the next, not the trees up tall and strong one day and then its branches digging the earth the next, nor the flowers blossoming exquisitely one day and collapsing the next, nor the birds flying by gracefully one day and then crawling on their backs in the dust the next, nor do I see this wonderful universe around me in disharmony and destroyed and thus I know that my Lord is One.”

Even if we assume that the two powers agree on everything or complement each other, they cannot both be absolutely powerful because in doing anything one at least will need to assume that the other will not interfere or is not capable of interfering. In other words, one will need to assume that the function of the other is redundant or that the power of the other is limited. The creator then must be One. There cannot be any other like Him, so He must be unique. The Creator must be all Powerful and must be able to do what ever He wills.

From the above, it is valid and reasonable to assert that the Creator must be Eternal and Everlasting, Self-Sufficient and All-Powerful, One and Unique. These are some of the qualities or attributes of the creator that we must have in mind when we use the word Allah. We must also remember that His attributes or qualities are absolute and do not change. There must be clear separation between the Creator and the created. It follows that no man can be Allah. Allah cannot have a mother or father. He cannot have a son or daughter. The sun, the moon, the stars or any other heavenly bodies cannot be Allah. No part of Creation whether it be a mountain, a tree or a fire can be Allah and does not deserve to be worshipped as Allah. Any religion or any worldview which regards any human being or any part of creation as Allah or part of Allah must be a false religion or worldview. Also any religion or any worldview which regards Allah as having human characteristics, for example a human shape and suffering from tiredness and needing rest and sleep, must be a false religion or worldview.

Nature Declares Allah’s Oneness

From yet another perspective we see the open book of nature revealing to us the attributes of its author. Allah is one because the entire universe is built out of one material and according to a unified plan. The ninety two elements in the Mendelev table are built from a single element, hydrogen. All forms of human life are built of carbon composites- they are all charred when burned according to one anatomical plan.

The anatomy of a frog, a rabbit, a pigeon, a crocodile, giraffe, and a whale reveals the same arteries, veins, cardiac chambers, and bones correspond in all of them. The wing of a pigeon is the foreleg of a frog; same bones with a slight variation. The long neck of a giraffe contains seven vertebrae; we find the same number in the hedgehogs’ neck. The nervous system in all consists of the brain, the spinal cord, and the motor and sensory nerves. Their digestive apparatus contains the stomach, duodenum, and the small and large intestines. The genital apparatus has the same components: the ovary, the uterus, the testicles and their ducts; while the urinary system in all consists of the kidney, the uriter, and the bladder. The anatomical unit in each of these creatures is the cell. Whether we are dealing with plants, animals, or humans, we meet with the same features; they are breathe, breed, die, and are born in the same way.

What is so strange, then, in asserting that the Creator is one? Does He suffer from a deficiency to need completion? It is the imperfect only who multiply. If there were more that one Allah, they would fall among themselves, each taking his own creation to his side and the universe would be ruined.

Why have I been Created?

What is the purpose of the creation of Mankind? If the purpose of man is, as Muslims advocate, to worship Allah, as mentioned in the following verse:

“I have created mankind and the Jinn (a fiery, invisible creature) in order that they may worship me.” (51, 56)

…does it then suggest that the Almighty is in dire need of our worship? This, though, would be an obvious contradiction of the Islamic belief in Allah being absolutely Self-Sufficient, Independent and Transcendent. If, on the contrary, the answer be no, then it would seem that mankind serves no purpose at all. What then is the purpose of the creation of Man?

Furthermore, if man was created for worship then why was he granted the freedom to choose not to do so, and even to deny the very existence of Allah himself? What then is the nature of man and what, if anything at all, makes him so unique? And how are we to understand the nature of the relationship between mankind and Allah?

‘Everything besides Allah is False!’

The Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessing be upon him, is reported to have said, “The truest words ever uttered are (that), ‘Everything besides Allah is False!’”. Islamic Doctrine informs the Muslim, as its fundamental premise, that everything around us does not, of itself, exist. We exist only solely by the will and intent of Allah, this divine being more than adequate a reason for the creation of all being.

The existence of the world is thus a shadow existence in so far as a shadow cannot exist without the object, which is in itself real and true. The existence of the shadow cannot in anyway be denied, but it is contingent on the existence of the image too is completely different and separate from the real existence of the object.

Similarly, the existence of the world is a ‘shadow’ existence, different and separate from the real existence of Allah. The important thing that has to be noted in this regard is that the shadow of a thing is not the thing itself. It is different from the object numerically as well as qualitatively.

The world is, in essence, unreal. What imparts to it a ‘shadow existence’, a semblance of reality, and elevates it from absolute nothingness and gives it a permanence and stability, is the reflection of Allah’s existence and attributes on it: Allah decree that it be:

“For when he intends that a thing be, He merely declares, ‘BE’ and it becomes.” (Qur’an 2, 117)

Man’s Ignorance disqualifies him

As has been determined in the previous section, to believe in Allah is the to believe in the existence of a supreme power; that this unimaginable power is behind the creation of the universe and that it is incomparable in its scope of knowledge, creativity, mercy, punishment and all the other features attributable to Allah. Once this understanding has taken root in the heart of the believer, he becomes aware of the fact that man shouldn’t assess Allah’s intent, power and absolute knowledge in terms of his own limited knowledge and physical powers. He understands that he is not qualified to question His authority and ask from reasons of motives, for dialogue is futile and will not serve its end unless those taking part in it possess equal mental ability and logic.

Man’s mental and physical limitations make him no match with Allah, no matter how knowledgeable and powerful man may think himself to be. Yet we still meet some unfortunate and vain persons who pretend shamelessly to be qualified to argue with Allah over His intent and knowledge, and the way He has prescribed for mankind.

The recognition of Allah’s supreme power and sovereignty over His universe and mankind and His all-encompassing knowledge, establishes the route through which faith enters mankind’s heart where it lodges and grows. But this route doesn’t open without prior contemplation and musing about this universe and the signs through which Allah reveals Himself to us, signs which constitute that glorious symphony we call creation.

Creation is a Spectacular Expression of Allah’s Divine Attributes

Creation is a spectacular Expression of Allah’s divine attributes. It has often been described as the veritable artwork of Allah, for through His creation does Allah manifest Himself. He is the artist and creation is His glorious artwork. Creation thus exists as a direct consequence of His attributes and His intent to manifest them.

Allah declares in a Divine utterance (Hadith Qudsi) by way of allegory, “I was as a hidden treasure, and thus I created creation that this treasure be (revealed in its splendor), known, (appreciated and celebrated)”.

Allah is the Creator, and creation and expression of his creativity, Allah is Perfect and so we find that creation too is perfect; Allah is the Fashioner and the Beautiful and His creation thus fashioned into most wondrous, beautiful forms; Allah is the Cherisher and creation cherished and caringly nurtured.

In fact, the very first verse of the Holy Qur’an alludes to this mystery for out of the ‘Beautiful Names’ (al Asma ul Husna) of Allah and His attributes of perfection, only two have been mentioned in this introductory verse – namely, ‘Ar Rahman’ and ‘Ar Rahim’ – both of which have been derived from the root ‘Rahmah’ (mercy), indicating the all-persuasiveness and perfection of divine mercy, compassion and love. It points to the fact that the creation of the heavens and the earth the sustenance of all the worlds has no other motivation other than manifesting Allah’s attribute of mercy, generosity and selfless love. He Himself had no need of these creatures, nor could anyone compel Him to create them. It is His very own mercy, generosity and love which has determined the creation and sustenance of the entire universe.

How aptly this was out in by the great mystic poet Allamah Rumi: “There was nothing – neither our being nor our claim to be; It was by thy mercy that heard our unsaid.”

And further a poet states,

“…For he loved us even before we knew ourselves, and from this love he created us.”

Thus Allah is the Grand sculptor and creation his wondrous, perfect sculpture – a wondrous declaration of his perfection of being.